On March 21, 2014, Escambia County took ownership, by Court order, of the Innerarity Island Water and Sewer System. In 2018, a water system upgrade was completed, and Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) took ownership and maintenance responsibility.
On March 2, 2017, the Board approved an Ordinance creating the Innerarity Island Development Corporation (IIDC) Sewage System Improvement MSBU, which allowed Escambia County to financially support improvements to the entire sewage system and to assess benefiting property owners for the project costs. Project construction started in October 2019 and is expected to be completed in October 2020. As ECUA will be responsible for long term maintenance, they are overseeing and managing the construction of the system. To move forward with construction, the Board approved an inter-fund loan on July 18, 2019, in the amount of $5,605,174, from Local Options Sales Tax (LOST) III provided temporary project funding.
A $1,500,000 Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was secured to offset the water and sewer project costs, which include engineering design and permitting, construction management/inspection services, waterline construction, operation/repair of water/sewer system, and partial grinder pump equipment purchase. MSBU-calculated (owner-financed) assessment includes sewer system construction, tax collector fee (2%), administrative fee (10%), contingency (20%), and Year 1 fee (10%). No additional Grants or property sales have been included in the current MSBU annual assessment calculations. As construction is on track to be completed in Fall 2020, assessment collection will not begin until November 2021.
On May 4, 2017, the Board declared 21 parcels as surplus and authorized staff to use an online real estate auction company to market and sell the properties to the bidder with the highest offer received at or above the minimum bid amount, and also authorized an appraisal to be performed on six lots to determine current market value for comparison purposes. Seven parcels have sold to date for a total of $219,150. 14 parcels are still available to auction. The Office of Management and Budget is working with the Purchasing Department to procure a new auction service for surplus properties as the last one is no longer available.
On April 9, 2020, the Innerarity Island Association (IA) Homeowners Association Board adopted a Resolution requesting that Escambia County take the following actions:
A. Escambia County should make every reasonable effort to request State Grants and Restore/Triumph Funds to assist IIA residents to mitigate the costs of the MSBU; and
B. Escambia County should select a Florida Real Estate Broker to perform the following tasks:
1. Prepare a market analysis of the lots;
2. Propose new pricing to the IIA Board;
3. List the surplus lots with said Broker so that they can be properly advertised; and
4. Apply the sales price to offset the MSBU.
This property is located in Commission District 2. |